Commander C I R Campbell made modifications to the design of the R27. Charles Ivor Rae Campbell had the dual role of constructor of the R38 and Supt of the Royal Airship Works. He had previously worked on the construction of the R34.
Charles Ivor Rae Campbell O.B.E. was born in 1878 and studied engineering at the Royal Naval College at Keyham and marine engineering and naval architecture at the Royal Naval College at Greenwich. By 1903 he was Assistant Constructor in the Royal Corps of Naval Constructors.
He was then transferred to the staff of the Director of Naval Construction at the Admiralty and was mainly concerned with the design of submarines.
In 1909 he was appointed Admiralty overseer of submarines and was based at Barrow and later Newcastle. At the start of WW1, he was sent to the US and Canada to supervise the construction of submarines. By Oct 1915 he had returned and was appointed overseer of the airship design and construction department.
Although work had already begun on the first rigid airships Campbell was able to implement changes and oversaw work in airships R27, R29, R31, R32, R33, R34 and R38. Given his sudden switch from submarines to airships his workload and responsibilities would have been tremendous.
After the war ended and following a series of restructures airship construction was transferred to the Air Ministry and after the abrupt departure of the Short brothers from Cardington Ivor Campbell was appointed superintendent of the Royal Airship Works. He was to lose his life in the R38 crash.